Celtics Wilcox to have season-ending heart surgery

BOSTON — Boston Celtics forward Chris Wilcox is scheduled to have surgery for an enlarged aorta and will miss the rest of the season.

Journal Staff and Wire Report

BOSTON - Boston Celtics forward Chris Wilcox is scheduled tohave surgery for an enlarged aorta and will miss the rest of theseason.

The team announced Wednesday that the surgery should allow himto resume his career next season.

The operation is scheduled for March 29 at the Cleveland Clinicwhere another Celtics forward, Jeff Green, had season-endingsurgery for an aortic aneurysm on Jan. 9. Doctors have said Greenalso should be able to play next season.

The 6-foot-10 Wilcox was the eighth pick in the 2002 draft bythe Los Angeles Clippers out of Maryland. He also played center forBoston after signing as a free agent on Dec. 10 following two yearswith the Detroit Pistons. In 28 games this season, four of themstarts, he is averaging 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds.

"While we are saddened that Chris will not be able to play againthis season, the most important thing is his health, and we werefortunate to have access to an amazing team of specialists toevaluate Chris' case," Celtics president of basketball operationsDanny Ainge said.

The club said it gave the 29-year-old Wilcox frequent aorticscans because he has had an abnormality for a long time. It hadremained stable during his 10-year career, but a recent scan showed"significant enlargement of his aorta," the Celtics said. Thesurgery was scheduled after he received additional tests.

The Celtics are very thin at center without Wilcox and JermaineO'Neal, sidelined by a wrist injury. Their only true center isrookie Greg Stiemsma, although Kevin Garnett can play there.

In 10 seasons with six teams, Wilcox is averaging 8.6 points and5.1 rebounds. His best season was 2006-07 when he started 81 gamesfor Seattle, averaging 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds.

The Celtics said that at Wilcox's request, neither he nor theteam would have more comment.

It is the latest piece of bad news in what seems like astar-crossed season for Boston. The Celtics failed despite severalattempts to make any major upgrades after the end of the NBAlockout in December. Paul Pierce was injured very early in trainingcamp and sat out the first three games of the season, as the teamgot off to an 0-3 start. Injuries have been a recurring theme sincethen as no member of the team has been able to suit up for each ofthe games so far this season.

But the heart problems suffered by Green and Wilcox have hit theteam especially hard. The loss of Green, head coach Doc Rivers saidat the time that his condition was announced, foiled his plans offeaturing a smaller lineup designed to create matchup problems. Theloss of Wilcox now exacerbates the need for a big man, which Aingesaid earlier this week was the team's most glaring deficiency.

Thursday afternoon is the NBA's trade deadline, and Ainge hasattempted to temper expectations of the Celtics doing anythingsubstantial. Boston is in the midst of a potentiallyseason-defining eight-game road swing, which continued Wednesdaynight at Golden State. Ainge faces the quandary of having to decidewhether to make a significant move to improve the team's chances ofcompeting this year, standing pat for now and hoping forwaiver-wire help later on, or throwing in the towel and beginningto dismantle the team with an eye toward the future. "We have untiltomorrow to see if we can extract a big from somewhere," Riverssaid before the game in Oakland, Calif. "But we don't want to giveup anything so it's going to be tough to do. ... At the end of theday I like our team. Obviously we need a big, but let's not doanything that hurts the team this year or in the future."